The present invention relates to a time switch mechanism and, more particularly to a time switch mechanism adapted to be incorporated in a television, a radio and the like and capable of automatically as well as manually operating a switch for playing music or generating an alarm.
In general, a time switch of the type described above is so operated that the electrical power switch is automatically closed by a clock mechanism at a predetermined set time and, after the lapse of a set time period, the electric power switch is opened and the electrical power switch is again closed and opened at the set times, respectively, in the next day, and the above sequence is repeated daily. It is also desired that the time switch is closed and opened manually at desired times, respectively. Further, the time switch is used as a so-called sleep timer in which the switch is closed for a desired time period before the sleeping time and then opened until the set time is reached for closing the switch.
The above described types of the time switch have been proposed and widely used. However, in the prior art time switches, all of them are provided with a plurality of switches, each exclusively adapted to be operated automatically by a clock mechanism, or to be operated manually or to be operated as a sleep timer, thereby resulting in complicated mechanical as well as electrical construction and high cost of the time switch mechanism while the operation is made complicated.
The present invention aims at avoiding the above described disadvantages of the prior art time switch mechanisms.